Monday, 18 March 2013

Elemental

There's a lot of activity in the hills around Tenuta Savorgnano at the moment as new efforts to make the countryside more accessible for walkers and cyclists. We've added guided walks to our repertoire this year.

View from Col di Paiolo

Just
down the road from us the hills diminish and open out into a vista
where you can see beyond Umbria to the snow-capped curtain of the
Appenines at the Western edge of Marche. The ancient settlement of
Ponte Alla Piera with it's 13th century bridge clusters on
steps of land northwards; the dwellings thinning out the higher you
look, finishing with stripes of south facing stone terraces. Olives
are planted here now but I wonder if, in the past, it was chestnuts.
Over to the East at this point looking down towards the Sovara River
the trees are bare enough at this time of the year to see the trails
and paths snaking through the hills in all directions. Look at the
background of the Mona Lisa and you see a scene not unlike this.

Col di Paiolo: Picnic in the pines

For
about a year now down here new chestnut fences have been erected,
paths have been re-established, lay-bys on the main road reasserted,
forests thinned out and old stone reinforcements of the river bank
(ancient flood defences) have been rehabilitated. More recently
rustic looking notice boards have appeared and brilliant directional
signs. Looks like a renaissance is under way to open up this
beautiful landscape once again for walkers and cyclists.
Interestingly, the Communità Montana
have renovated a great square stone farmhouse and a couple of weeks
ago when we were out walking we noticed a sign there proclaiming
“Visitors Centre”. We got excited!

From
the visitors centre looking East down the valley Il Conventino sits
like a brooding solid stone block on a tongue-shaped promontory. Of
uncertain origins, but possibly dating as far back as the mid-ninth
century, it was a hide out for maverick monks and turbulent priests.
Sold to the Count at nearby Montauto Castle, passed to the abbey at
Camaldolí, supressed by Pope Pius II in 1459, receiving official
recognition only in 1567, destroyed by earthquake and rebuilt twice
in the 18th century and finally relinquishing the
religious life in 1786. Today it's occupied by an British couple.

The
topography changes suddenly here as the valley narrows and the
verdant hills give way to a gorge. Jagged steep verdigris cliffs loom
up. The low winter sun doesn't penetrate to the floor of the gorge
giving rise to frosts here even on the mildest winter days. Looking
up

spindly
pines rise vertical as plumb-lines as if they were suspended from
above; the base barely resting on jagged outcrops of blue-grey rock.
At certain times of the year, clouds like cotton-candy Anacondas
snake through the valley and the gorge clinging to the forest canopy
for dear life.

Bear Ghrylls

Rock of AgesThis
is Monti Rognosi which roughly translates as 'Scabby Mountains'. I
kid you not. Mountains of igneous rock, these were forged in the
savage heat and and pressures near the molten core of the planet.
They arise where the Earth's viscous mantle extrudes through the
crust at the boundaries of tectonic plates. Indeed, these formations
are key evidence in plate tectonic theory. The glossy rocks are
packed with minerals. The turquoise appearance suggests a lot of
copper. It seems hard to swallow, but millennia since according to
geologists, this colossal mass was extruded from the ocean bed.

The
high mineral content and scant topsoil has made this inhospitable
terrain for habitation – of any kind. The story goes that the
'scabby' part of the name referred to the people here. Since the soil
was poor and the people malnourished they were prone to skin
complaints! I'm not sure how likely that is, but when we were out
walking I did notice that one of the two varieties of pine that
thrive here has a scaly bark that peels easily and which brought to
mind psoriasis! One thing the poor conditions has done is select for
some very rare plant species here. Indeed, according to the
information boards only 12% of the plant life here is native.
Incredibly, the pine forests were cultivated!

Plumb-line Pines

Thaw
and freeze, freeze and thaw. Meteorological extremes and seismic
shifts have carved out this landscape. Water seeps into clefts and
fissures expanding as it freezes until eventually rocks sheer and
fracture. Boulders big has cars have been known to plummet into the
road below. Until late spring cataracts cascade down where streams
converge eventually finding the river Sovara runing between rocky
cliffs on the floor of the gorge. It's a foaming force at this time
of the year a great rush: the hiss and spit always there in the
background. Summer heat saps it's energy and it trickles lazily
seeping between pebbles and boulders.

Il Conventino

Today
Monti Rognosi is an area for leisure. Picnicking, walking and cycling
have all been renewed by recent forestry management. Can't wait to
take my sarnies and a bottle of prosecco up to the Col di Piaolo to
experience the cool shade of the dense pines at the height of summer.
The paths now are clear, safe and well sign-posted and at points
afford stupendous views out over the Tiber valley and Sansepolcro. I
indulged in 'archaeology' of leisure seekers of the more recent past
exploring the wreck of an old theatre in the trees with a ramshackle
stage complete with shrubs growing through. There were old green
hand-blown glass wine bottles knocking around – left by litter
louts from the last century no doubt. I could imagine this as the
setting for a pine-scented production of Midsummer Nights Dream
during the long light evenings of July.

Dumb
Britain

Is
a regular feature inPrivate Eye detailing dumb answers
on British quiz shows. How's about this. We were out walking in Monti
Rognosi the other day. We parked in Il Coventino lay-by where our car
was spotted by other Brits.

“You're
on the right road. First right ahead. Continue on through Caprese
Michelangelo and pick up signs there for the monastery.... I assume
that's where you're heading. By the way the famous Caprese
Michelangelo is worth a visit too. There's a museum.”

“Really,
what's it famous for?”

“Er
the clue is in the name.”

Puzzled
looks and then a light went on. “Oh, the salad with Mozzarella &
Basil?”